Shop Heaters?

[Landwise]

I have been looking at Shop heaters, and I think I have made up my mind, but I would like a few opinions.

Forced air or Infrared?

Shop is 30 x 40 with 20' ceilings. I only want to heat it when we are there, so I am leaning towards infrared, Propane fired. Doesn't get all that cold here in eastern NC, but uncomfortable in January-end of March.

Any opinions?

 

[EddieWalker]

It's that time of year again when I start day dreaming about insulating my shop and putting in a heater. I'm thinking propane, but don't have a tank yet. I'm also thinking about a ceiling mounted unit that will be out of the way for the nine or ten months of the year when I don't need it.

Where are you looking and what are you thinking of spending? I've just looked at the Northern Tool catalog.

Eddie

 

[budlite]

My brother got one of those heaters that Paul Harvey is advertising in his basement. I am waiting for a report from him on how well it works and the cost. I want something that will heat up an area rather quickly versus maintaining a temperature. I will post when I get an opinion, but it might be a while, we're in 'Bama.

 

[ToadHill]

Eddie, with all those pictures you have posted of big piles of tree branches, I'd have guessed you'd be looking at wood stoves.

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't want to lose the floor space, or have to rely on having wood on hand. It's enough effort to burn the entire tree, cutting it up into little pieces and then splitting it is more then I'm willing to do.

Eddie

 

[groundcover]

Eddie I have gone with propane both as a unit heater, HVACR > Heating Equipment > Gas Unit Heaters > Heater,Lp Unit : Grainger Industrial Supply and infrared , HVACR > Heating Equipment > Unvented High Intensity Infrared Heaters > Heater,Infrared : Grainger Industrial Supply
both ways heat well but you heat the people/stuff with the infrared,not the air. You could even wait for insulation if you just wanted it warm while you are working plus it is much quieter. If I was building new I would pex the floor and go radiant.

 

[rtdiggr]

Landwise will you be doing any wood working? If yes is the answer the stay away from the open flame,,, wood dust can build up and cause a fire.
Infrared is nice but does take alittle time to heat things up in the shop.

Shane

 

[rtdiggr]

It's that time of year again when I start day dreaming about insulating my shop and putting in a heater. I'm thinking propane, but don't have a tank yet. I'm also thinking about a ceiling mounted unit that will be out of the way for the nine or ten months of the year when I don't need it.

Where are you looking and what are you thinking of spending? I've just looked at the Northern Tool catalog.

Eddie

Eddie don't you still live in Texas? come to Canada in Feb. and see what cold is like.

Shane

 

[EddieWalker]

It is kind of absurd talking about heaters here, but for a few months out of the year, it does cool down here with temps in the teens. Of course, it warms up into the 40's and 50's, but those evenings can be very painful to do any work out in my shop.

My plan is to install cheap metal siding for a ceiling. My trusses are on 4ft centers, so 12 foot lengths of metal will work good for a foot of blown in insulation.

The heater that I like the best so far is this one from Northern Tool.
Mr. Heater Propane Garage Heater — 45,000 BTU, Model# MHU45LP | Heaters | Northern Tool + Equipment It's priced right and I like that it uses a vent.

My shop is 24ft by 30ft.

One of my other projects is to install a propane fireplace in my family room. For this, I plan on getting a propane tank and running the lines for the fireplace, heater and a line to where my water heater is located. Not sure when I'll replace the electric one, but it's time on this planet is limited.

I've never ran propane lines before, so I'm totally ignorant on what to use? Copper? Rubber?

My thinking is to run it to a manifold that I can turn off all the lines, but run a seperate line to each appliance from the manifold. I could also add lines to the manifold in the future this way.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Dano5509]

I was looking at one of the Kozi pellet stove shop heaters. Pellets are running about $175-190 per ton here in E. WA.

www.kozistoves.com/ShopHeaters.html

86% efficiency, small electrical draw for the auger and being able to hit the start button and not tend a fire would be nice. This is what I want once I get my 30 x 40 x 14 up on our place.

 

[Kays Supply]

Use copper or the new SS flex. Be sure you use flare fittings not compression or sweat. Keep all your fittings exposed. Don't put in walls ,etc. Be sure to air test before using, if you are new to flare fittings.

 

[Jackfr]

We have a 100,000 BTU hanging LP modine in our 32x40x16' high shop with 1' insulation in plaster ceiling and 6" in plaster walls its vented thru roof. I leave it off until we need to work on something or melt snow / ice during storm off tractor or plow truck. The heat comes up real quick so you can work in comfort within 10 to 15 minutes even on coldest days here in Plymouth MA. It works great for us. I would advise getting at least the 75,000 btu unit don't cut your self short when you purchase the unit especially if your looking for quick heat.

 

[irvingj]

My garage is 32 x 32, with an 8' ceiling. I did buy a 35-55,000 BTU "Mr. Heater" from Northern a few years ago, and it'll do the job, but it sounds a bit like an old Lear on climb-out: really noisy!

I began insulating, completing the ceiling first; made a huge difference. Completed walls, and then began applying inexpensive 7/16" Home Despot plywood, priming it white first. That made another big improvement, both with heat retention and light reflection. Started walls this fall, but have only finished one so far. With the addition of the insulation & plywood, 55,000 BTU seems quite adequate to bring temp up quickly (10-20 mins) when I need it.

Although I always keep the garage vented, adjusting as needed, the small direct-fire Mr. Heater will quickly build up humidity in the garage, something I've learned to avoid- it'll cause things to rust from the inside out.

I always considered the heater to be temporary, and even though my conception of that word can run into years sometimes.., I plan to eventually mount a propane blower heater on the ceiling, something like a "Hot Dawg."

My only concern is that it be relatively quiet-- anyone have experience with this type of heater? Any recommendations?

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm reading more and more that the Mr Heater is noisy. Since one of the reasons I want to do this is that we have parties and get togethers in our shop several times a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, plus birthdays and fish fries. If it's loud, then it's going to ruin the fun.

Who has a quite heater in their shop?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[kmdigital]

I was looking at one of the Kozi pellet stove shop heaters. Pellets are running about $175-190 per ton here in E. WA.QUOTE]

At your price, the wood pellets (at about 7,800 BTU/lb) cost $1.30 to $1.42 per therm of energy (100,000 BTU) at 86% efficiency. At the lower price, natural gas would need to cost ~ $1.10 - $1.15 per therm to be equal, and for propane, about $1.03 per gallon. Since natural gas and propane both cost considerably more then this currently, wood pellets would save a considerable amount of money.

However, at the local TSC, wood pellets are ~$300 per ton, so these savings go right out the window very, very quickly if you aren't careful what you pay for the pellets. At these prices, propane at $1.80 and natural gas at $1.95 are about equal, assuming comparable efficiencies. So make sure of the pellet prices before you buy a stove.

 

[C.G.S.]

We use outdoor wood fired boiler for the shop and house. Wood is not a problem to procure when your clearing land for a living.The shop has to many machine tools to let it get cold.

 

[yankeerider]

...Who has a quite heater in their shop?

Thanks,
Eddie

Eddie-

About 15 years ago I installed a propane wall furnace from Grainger's in my 30' x 30' shop. It's about 75-85,000 BTU. I insulated the ceiling with 6" fiberglass and the walls with 3-1/2" fiberglass, There's a 15' and an 8' overhead door across the front, but it will still heat the building so I can comfortably work even on a single digit day.

I use to use a kerosene fired salamander-type heater, but that thing was way noisy and you breathed fumes. One thing i like about the propane furnace is the combustion chamber is isolated from the air in the workspace. It draws its combustion air from outside around the exhaust vent, so it's not pulling air from inside the heated space. And yes, it's real quiet, although i do have to turn the radio up a little bit during heating season.

 

[SpringHollow]

I am just finishing hooking up heat in the floor in my new 24 x 32 barn addition. The hot water is generated by the wood boiler i use to heat the house. The slab is insulated with 2" of foam, the walls with 2" of foil faced foam, and the ceiling with R-38 fiberglass. I covered the walls and ceilings with osb painted off-white. Right now, two 500 W Halogen lights light up the whole barn and keep it reasonably comfortable (sweatshirt temperatures). The outside temperatures have been in the 20's and 30's.

Ken

 

[Kays Supply]

I have a furnace taken out of a house put in my shop. You can get a model that will hang from the ceiling horizontally and put a filter on one end and a turn down on the other. It takes a little longer than a Modine type to get it to temp but it is much cheaper. Mine was a take out from a local HVAC shop. With all the HE equipment being sold ,they get them as take outs all the time. I have my shop well insulated and am in and out every day, so I keep it at 50 degrees and turn it up when I have a project. It is as quiet as the one in your house. Maybe better, since the short duct work doesn't make any back pressure.

 

[atgreene]

I thought I'd bump this thread up rather than starting a new one.

I'm pricing propane heaters now and am leaning toward the Modine or Hotdawg. Both by Modine, I think.

Just curious if anyone has the Hotdog? Modine Hot Dawg Heater - QC Supply

I'm heating my 42' x 42' x 12' pole barn with a Kerr wood furnace currently, but want to maintain 45 degrees all the time to keep all the plows, trucks, excavator etc... warm and ready to go. Any others I should look at? I'm not keen on the infrared as I like to have a nice even heat and not be well done on one side and cold on the other.

Next question, as for size. Am I better with 2 45,000 btu or 30,000 btu vs. 1 100,000 or so? I'm thinking of running one 30,000 in one corner and see how it works, if I need more buy another for the far end of the shop? Thoughts?

And last but not least, where's the best deals to buy one?